Regular exercise is typically recommended as a way to improve or maintain health. Far too often, however, too great of an emphasis is placed on cardiovascular activities such as cycling, running, or team sports such as basketball. While cardiovascular activities are important to improving and sustaining personal health, so is strength training, or resistance training, which is frequently overlooked, especially in instances where strength training has been prescribed as part of a rehabilitation program. In fact, resistance training, most typically associated with increasing strength, is also known to aid in the prevention of injuries. To meet strength training and conditioning needs, consumers will often purchase expensive and elaborate gym equipment, which is bulky, takes up living space and is typically not portable, or commit to lengthy gym memberships, which sacrifices the convenience and comfort of a home workout. Taking into consideration the problems with the aforementioned options, portable exercise equipment has been developed to improve muscle mass and strength for home and on the go.
Current solutions have myriad shortcomings as well, including existing exercise equipment such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,057,246; 4,059,265; and 7,322,909 as well as U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0322633. For example, the elastic resistance bands rest outside the main apparatus creating a sloppy appearance and a dangerous whip should the handles slip. Additionally, the handles are flimsy and cumbersome and allow the resistance bands to come into uncomfortable contact with the user. In some existing devices, one or two flexible elements are not capable of providing the variety of resistance combinations desired by most users. Pulleys or other unnecessary small moving parts have been added to existing devices, which tend to complicate the apparatus, making it less reliable and harder to produce without any accompanying benefit. With some devices, the user is expected to step on the flexible element causing unnecessary wear and tear. Accordingly, a need exists for a strength training and conditioning device that is portable, compact, durable, and safe.